Home prices in the Top 20 Metropolitan Areas declined 0.4% in January, according to the Standard & Poor’s Case-Shiller Index. It was the fourth consecutive monthly drop. The big winner was Los Angeles with a 0.9% increase over December. The biggest loser in this current market downturn continues to be Las Vegas where prices are off 55.8% from their peak. Las Vegas suffered a 0.5% decrease over December. Overall, home prices in the Top 20 Metropolitan Areas were down 29.6% from their July, 2006 peak .

Here’s a look at how the individual Top 20 Metropolitan Areas are performing: Read more

It’s a wonder how anyone can stand to buy a new car from some of these sleazy automobile dealerships. In scanning the car dealer advertisements in the paper for the last few weeks, I noticed what could be a new deceptive tactic to bring in customers. On the other hand, maybe I am a little late to the game in noticing this unethical practice. Read more

If you search the web, you will find few web sites that deal with the emotional abuse of men by women. Most sites that deal with this subject tend to be a bit on the misogynistic side. As a man, I don’t want to be painted with the same brush as men who abuse women, so it’s not fair to paint all women as emotionally abusive.

In my search, I did find one web site that presented an intelligent, balanced view of the subject. WomenAbusingMen.org was founded by Dr. Claudia B. Cornell and Kimberly C. Taylor.

While I found WomenAbusingMen.org to be quite intriguing, I wanted to learn more on the subject of emotional abuse of men by women. I sent an email with a comprehensive list of interview questions. Fortunately, I received a prompt response from Dr. Cornell expressing a great willlingness to answer my questions in the hope of spreading awareness on the emotional abuse of men by women.

In a myopic move that is certain to destroy troop morale, the ISAF announced on its blog that it would shut down some amenities in the Morale[sic], Welfare and Recreation (MWR) facilities at the Bagram and Kandahar bases in Afghanistan. Among the casualties are Orange Julius, Burger King, Pizza Hut, Dairy Queen, and Military Car Sales. The ISAF will also reduce the volume of canned and bottled goods coming into the bases, first-run movies, as well as non-USO entertainment shows. Read more

In a slap to the face to the opponents of the $940 billion health care reform bill, the American Medical Association endorsed the legislation “as a step toward providing coverage to all Americans and improving our nation’s health system.”

J. James Rohack, M.D., AMA president, stated, “While the final product is certainly not what we would have devised, we strongly support the parts of this bill that are desperately needed by millions of Americans who are struggling to get or keep health insurance coverage.” Read more